are "on the brink" of a deal. welcome to newsday. i'm steve lai. we start in south korea where for the first time in the country's history, a sitting president has been arrested. president yoon suk yeol was taken in by investigators this morning after a failed attempt earlier this month. he's being questioned for his short—lived martial law declaration in december. you're looking at live pictures outside president yoon�*s residence where crowds seem to have dwindled since the arrest. you dwindled since the arrest. can still see many flags they're you can still see many flags they're still waving. —— flags there. earlier, that was where investigators forced entry

with 1,000 police officers reportedly deployed to assist. the last time an attempt was made to arrest him, it was blocked by his security guards after a stand—off that lasted hours. shortly after his arrest, we heard from president yoon himself in a pre—recorded message. is that his decision to submit himself questioning was to avoid any violence after witnessing thousands of lives of others and to his residence. translation:— translation: today upon witnessing _ translation: today upon witnessing these _ translation: today upon | witnessing these individuals invading the security zone using firefighting equipment, i decided to buy with the corruption investigation officer �*s request for a voluntary appearance. despite it being an illegal investigation in order to prevent any unfortunate and violent incidents. i'm joined now by our reporter rachel lee who is there for us on the ground in seoul. tell us about what he was saying before he was taken into custody. saying before he was taken into custod . , ., ., custody. president yoon released _ custody. president yoon released a _ custody. president yoon released a statement i

custody. president yoon - released a statement earlier via online video saying that he has decided to head to the government complex where the corruption investigation office is located, which is around 20 to 30 minutes from the capital, seoul. he said he has decided to go there because of the security issue and the citizens and protesters, don't want to cause a physical clash. i'm out here in the area where they are, and the roads have been cleared and used to have heavy traffic and people were chanting, making speech, waving flags to stop the arrest execution against suspended president yoon suk yeol. earlier today the police and

the corruption investigation office had an extreme stand—off with the presidential security office, security service, but relatively it was smoother compared to the first attempt because the first attempt, they have five to six hours instead of retrieved, but now it was relatively smooth so they had easily passed the first, second and third barricade and finally arrested the suspended leader. then started quite early in seoul i understand, rachel, long before daybreak police officers were standing by, ready to go into the presidential residence. what happens now for president yoon and his supporters that also disbursed now?— disbursed now? right. the suspended _ disbursed now? right. the suspended president - disbursed now? right. the suspended president yoon | disbursed now? right. the - suspended president yoon suk yeol will now be heading for the cio office at the

government complex and will attend questioning against his charges of insurrection, and now, what i have been hearing in the crowd is that the rallies were chanting they should never give up and this is not the end, and there are a lot of ahead of the suspended leader and they should give him full support. now, it is up to the court whether to uphold the impeachment. the court has 180 days now, and if the court decides to uphold impeachments, south korea will have two have the presidential election inaudible.— the presidential election inaudible. thank you for caettin inaudible. thank you for getting us _ inaudible. thank you for getting us up _ inaudible. thank you for getting us up to _ inaudible. thank you for getting us up to speed - inaudible. thank you for| getting us up to speed with those developments. for more updates on the story, log onto our website. we have a live page up and running with

more context into the events transpiring in south korea. firefighters in los angeles are braced for the return of strong winds of up to 100km/h on tuesday evening as they continue to battle fires that are still of control. the fires have killed 25 people and 90,000 residents under evacuation orders. i dangerous when commissions are expected to continue into wednesday. you can see here the two largest fires — the palisades and eaton fires — which continue to burn. they are only 17 and 35% contain respectively. firefighters in los angeles are warning that the strengthening winds may spread the flames further. 0ur los angeles correspondent emma vardy has this report. this is the moment looters enter an evacuated home in the palisades. they were later arrested and charged with stealing $200,000 worth of property. the promise that we made when we started this, that these criminals would be arrested, they would be prosecuted

and they will be maximally punished is a promise we are keeping. it's just one example of the crime wave authorities are now tackling in the wake of the fires. joe biden has promised that la will get government money to help the massive recovery effort. it's going to cost tens of billions of dollars to get los angeles back to where it was. so we're going to need congress to step up to provide funding to get this done. despite talk of recovery, the flames are still spreading. this is ventura county, north of la, where a new fire broke out yesterday. crews battled through the night, but it's still uncontained. as well as the thousands of homes destroyed, in an altadena alone, six schools have also burned. this one, 0dyssey charter school — you can see the playground. this of the younger children's classrooms, all destroyed.

and here, 800 pupils aged between four and 13 now have little idea of where they'll go. with power and internet still down in large parts of los angeles, an idea by tesla owner elon musk has led to owners of his futuristic cybertrucks travelling to affected areas to provide wi—fi using the portable satellite system, starlink. you can't even make a phone call out here. so, there's certainly no internet out here. so, just being able to provide that is, i think, a critical need out here. and help continues to reach la in many forms. more than 800 prison inmates being trained in firefighting skills have been working on the ground for days. and crews from mexico have also joined the unprecedented effort to deal with this historic disaster. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. for more on these la fires, i am joined by pat morrison, columnist at the los angeles times. thank you forjoining me. the wind is expected to

pick up this evening. that put you under some form of evacuation order? i you under some form of evacuation order?- evacuation order? i 'ust received an evacuation order? ijust received an evacuationl evacuation order? ijust - received an evacuation alert from los angeles county fire department. i don't know whether it is legitimate or not, but bags have been packed for days, things are ready to go. this is like an earthquake reversal except with fire. thank you for taking some time to talk to us. if you do need to talk to us. if you do need to go, please do. in the meantime, can i ask you about the response to these fires, not so much the actual physical response, but there has been quite a bit of criticism of the authorities of how they have handled the wildfire, the aftermath as well, and some of that criticism coming from beyond los angeles. we have seen two _ beyond los angeles. we have seen two sorts _ beyond los angeles. we have seen two sorts of— beyond los angeles. we have seen two sorts of criticism. i seen two sorts of criticism. the fires who are here, who have come from all over the world and all over the united states, they have never seen anything like this. 100 mile an hour hurricanes of fire simply could not be fought in an area,

it isi.5 could not be fought in an area, it is 1.5times could not be fought in an area, it is 1.5 times the size of paris, 60 square miles have burned, tens of thousands of buildings also on the other hand you have in washington, dc starting with donald trump people have said california, you have mismanaged your water system, mismanaged virtually everything and we are putting some strings on the federal money may be coming your way. you may have to meet some conditions.— you may have to meet some conditions. that seems to be the last thing _ conditions. that seems to be the last thing you _ conditions. that seems to be the last thing you are - conditions. that seems to be | the last thing you are wanting to have to deal with at this time. is there some context of this that we should know about donald trump's relationship with california?— donald trump's relationship with california? donald trump, who actually — with california? donald trump, who actually owns _ with california? donald trump, who actually owns a _ with california? donald trump, who actually owns a golf - with california? donald trump, | who actually owns a golf course a few miles down the coast from pacific palisades and there is a great deal of water for him there, donald trump has always been resentful of california for not voting for him. now into elections. he calls our governor gavin newsom gavin

newscum, and he attacked the governor and accused him of mismanagement of water resources in california. compared to what happened after the 1906 san francisco earthquake when teddy roosevelt that anything you want, we are ready. californians have been hit with a double whammy. the fire another attitude in washington that maybe we shouldn't help you out altogether. it shouldn't help you out altogether.— shouldn't help you out altogether. shouldn't help you out altoaether. ., , , ., , altogether. it does seem to be altogether. it does seem to be a difficult time _ altogether. it does seem to be a difficult time for _ altogether. it does seem to be a difficult time for you - altogether. it does seem to be a difficult time for you in - altogether. it does seem to be a difficult time for you in los i a difficult time for you in los angeles. in conversations you've had with citizens and officials in la, what are their most immediate concerns? the most immediate concerns? the most immediate _ most immediate concerns? tue: most immediate concerns? tte: most immediate concerns are people getting places to live. this is a very difficult place to find housing, to find rentals, ever expensive place already, and people by the tens of thousands are scrambling to find new shelters. some family members of mine, friends of mine among them, and their spirits are good. people are helping out one another, there are locations where you can find clothes and other

necessities. 0nce find clothes and other necessities. once the immediate need passes, how the cleanup is going to continue. this is already shaping up to be only second to the 9/11 catastrophe in terms of costliness, in terms of the scale of cleanup. how do you move 60 square miles of debris? what kind of city should los angeles be, can los angeles be once it is all over? are you optimistic la will bounce back?— are you optimistic la will bounce back? the question is what los _ bounce back? the question is what los angeles _ bounce back? the question is what los angeles look - bounce back? the question is what los angeles look like. l what los angeles look like. will it be built to accommodate climate change, to accommodate drought? can it be as expensive, can it be as crowded as it is now? will we be a little los angeles or will we be a great los angeles? the olympics are here in three years so pressure is on, challenge before us notjust to serve the people who live here, but to set an example for the world in many ways.- but to set an example for the world in many ways. thank you so much for— world in many ways. thank you so much for speaking - world in many ways. thank you so much for speaking to - world in many ways. thank you so much for speaking to us. . so much for speaking to us. stay safe. around the world and across the

uk, this is bbc news.

the imminent ceasefire deal in the middle east, negotiations meeting in qatar have raised hopes that israel and hamas are on the vertices filed deal after months of deadlock. the foreign ministry said key issues have now been addressed but israel has cautioned that the deal is not there yet. us presidentjoe biden and the egyptian president are calling on both sides to show flexibility to achieve a truce. a palestinian official for the stage of the deal will happy with the release of 3a israeli hostages including women, children, the wounded and sick. in return, its expected that israel will release 1,000 palestinian prisoners, including about 190 prisoners who have been serving sentences of 15 years or more. the final stage involves an agreement about the reconstruction of gaza — a process that

could take years. for more on the situation, here's an update from our state department correspondent, tom bateman. the sense remains that these two sides are extremely close to a deal and that an announcement could come either within hours or within days. but is hoped for at some point this week and certainly before the inauguration of president trump next monday. now, we also had in washington a pretty significant intervention by the secretary of state antony blinken. both reiterating that the administration believes that they are on the brink of a deal here, but he also went into some details about the post—war plan that the administration wants to hand over to the trump team for what would happen in gaza in terms of both reconstruction, but also, future governance. and this is where things get really important because it gives you a sense of what the biden administration thinks it has achieved and its diplomacy and the wider

region, that it can try and get backing for this. what they are talking about is an interim governance proposal that would not involve the full control of the palestinian authority. that is the entity that was set up after the oslo accords that now has some form of self—governance in the occupied west bank. but, instead, there would be a mix of local politicians, some palestinian authority, but also, international partners, as mr blinken put it, the united nations. and, critically, on the issue of security, that it felt like this would largely be a sort of internationally led operation probably involving arab countries, although he did not name them. but what you have a sense of here is the way in which i think the administration is trying to placate both the israelis who don't want full palestinian control, but also arab countries who want to see some sort of progress towards palestinian self—governance for gaza. the administration, i think,

trying to work a compromise, something that if they can get to, they would have been the guarantors for. but that all now gets handed over to the trump administration. now something completely different. if you are the parents of small children or spend a lot of time on tiktok, odds are you might be familiar with this. # and the bog down in the valley—oh! # 0h, row the raglan bog # the bog down in the valley—oh! he's called the tree of wisdom, the latest character to join the long—running children's tv show the wiggles. his crazy dance moves have seen him go viral around the world with millions of views and thousands of parents and kids trying their best to copy his unique moves. # the tree in the bog # and the bog down in the valley—oh! # 0h, row the raglan bog # the bog down in the valley—oh! i was fortunate enough to be joined by the tree of wisdom himself, dominic field.

i asked him how it feels to have recently gone viral. it's been — it's been so cool. it's been so fun. i've been doing the tree for about six years and i've been dancing as wild as that for about six years, and then, how the internet works — someone picked it up, someone shared it and all of a sudden, i think in one month, it clocked over 150 million views. and, you know, all of a sudden, khloe kardashian has shared it on her instagram. she has 300 million followers. it's just blown up. so it's been crazy and ijust keep on dancing, keep on partying! yeah, absolutely. why not! and you say that you've been doing it for six years before it's actually sort of taken off, if you like. i have to say, your sheerjoy and enthusiasm has to play a big part in that, in your dancing? yeah, i think so. i mean, everyone who's come to the shows always enjoys it and that. i always get a lot of positive feedback off the back of shows. i think it's just been persistence. we've just kind of always —

we've done the song for a few years now and ijust have so much fun doing it, genuinely. a lot of people ask if it is coffee or energy drinks or something, but it's just sheer joy. i have so much fun doing it. and, so, ithink that'sjust rubbed off. a few people have seen it and gone — yeah, i want to have fun like this guy! absolutely! and what do your family and friends and the rest of the wiggles think of this new—found fame? the wiggles love it. it's so fun. they've loved being able to take the back seat and just let me do all the high—energy dancing and they can chill out in the back! and my friends, they've been seeing me do this at weddings and stuff like that for years. so this is no surprise to them, the dance moves. laughter and it must get quite a reaction now for your live shows. it must be hot in demand? yeah, we've started doing it second—last song of the show. so, it's kind of our big closer. and there is a bit of hype

built around it. so, you know, it does build a bit more pressure but that just means more energy comes out. and what does that mean for the tree of wisdom, the character you play on the wiggles? more air time, perhaps? a spin—off? who knows what's in the works! we're always looking to "branch" out! laughter we've got so much cool stuff coming out, including this country album, so i might have to become the cactus of wisdom for the country album! laughter i'm... and you're good with the puns, too. got to appreciate that. and you are the tree of wisdom, though. have you got any life advice for us you can dispense? look, the tree of wisdom is all about energy. whatever you're doing in life, give it 100%. give it your all, come on! we will collect ourselves and return to out top story for now, and that is in south korea. forthe now, and that is in south korea. for the first time in

the history, a sitting president has been arrested. he was taken in by investigators this morning after a failed attempt earlier this month for his short lived martial law declaration in december. the last time an attempt was made to arrest him, it was blocked by security guards after a stand—off that lasted hours. for 1560 00:20: